Winter in the Eastern Sierra

Finding beauty in the natural

There's such beauty in transition and transformation. The way the sun moves across a landscape, shifting every moment throughout the day. The way the water of a river passes by and flows around rocks and reeds. The way seasons completely alter everyday scenes. Winter provides the most stark contrast, washing everything in white. The monochrome settings bring a calm unlike any other. Blue hour encapsulates the land with a hauntingly fierce beauty.

I fell in love with winter in California’s Eastern Sierra range. The winter sun and storms, so strong and specific to that time of year. Snow-capped peaks rising above frosted rivers and lakes. The storm clouds moving across the land. And my favorite of all, the snow banners; post-storm wind whipping the freshly fallen snow off of mountain tops.

When I looked up if this occurrence had a name, I came across none other than John Muir's writings from the area:

"But it is on mountain tops, when they are laden with loose, dry snow and swept by a gale from the north, that the most magnificent storm scenery is displayed. The peaks along the axis of the Range are then decorated with resplendent banners, some of them more than a mile long, shining, streaming, waving with solemn exuberant enthusiasm as if celebrating some surpassingly glorious event."

Sarah Attar is a professional runner and artist living and training full time in Mammoth Lakes, CA. In 2012 she made history as Saudi Arabia’s first female Olympic runner. Follow her Instagram for more beautiful nature photography